MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Today, Lytro, Inc. (www.lytro.com)
unveiled the first Lytro consumer light field camera, introducing a new
way to take and experience pictures. Unlike conventional cameras, the
Lytro light field camera captures all the rays of light in a scene,
providing new capabilities never before possible, such as the ability to
focus a picture after it’s taken. The pocket-sized camera, which offers
a powerful 8x optical zoom and f/2 lens in an iconic design, creates
interactive “living pictures” that can be endlessly refocused. The
camera is available in two models and three colors, starting at $399.

The Lytro is the only consumer camera that lets people instantly capture
a scene just as they see it by recording a fundamentally richer set of
data than ever before. Lytro cameras feature a light field sensor that
collects the color, intensity, and the direction of every light ray
flowing into the camera, capturing a scene in four dimensions. To
process this additional information, Lytro cameras contain a light field
engine that allows camera owners to refocus pictures directly on the
camera. When the Lytro’s living pictures are shared online, the light
field engine travels with each picture so anyone can interact with them
on nearly any device, including web browsers, mobile phones, and tablets
— without having to download special software.

The Lytro’s sleek design was created with simplicity in mind. With no
unnecessary modes or dials, the camera features just two buttons — power
and shutter — and has an intuitive glass touchscreen that lets pictures
be viewed and refocused directly on the camera. While the Lytro camera
houses complex technology, it is fundamentally easy to use, opening new
creative opportunities for anyone interested in sharing their favorite
memories with friends and family.

The Lytro camera’s features include:

Form follows function: The Lytro’s unique compact design is
driven by its 8x optical zoom lens, which features a constant f/2
aperture. The Lytro’s anodized aluminum body is lightweight yet
sturdy. At less than eight ounces, the Lytro puts remarkable power in
a pocket-sized camera.

Proprietary light field science: The Lytro is the only camera
that captures life in living pictures. Its innovative light field
sensor captures 11 million light rays of data (or 11 megarays),
including the direction of each ray, something conventional cameras
don’t do. The light field engine then processes the data into a
picture that is displayed in HD quality.

Unparalleled speed: The Lytro’s speed ensures that people never
miss a moment. It turns on instantly and has an instant shutter. With
no need to auto-focus, the Lytro has no shutter delays.

Low-light sensitivity: By using all of the available light in a
scene, the Lytro performs well in low-light environments without the
use of a flash.

Significant storage: The Lytro is available in both 8GB and
16GB models, storing 350 and 750 pictures respectively. In addition,
our first camera owners will enjoy free storage for the light field
pictures they’ve uploaded to Lytro.com.

Seeing in 3D: Coming soon! Captured as a full light field, all
pictures taken with the Lytro are inherently 3D. Special light field
algorithms, available in 2012, will be applied to the light field
pictures to enable viewing on any 3D display and to enable viewers to
shift the perspective of the scene.

The Lytro light field camera is accompanied by Lytro’s desktop
application, a free software download that easily imports pictures from
camera to computer. Currently available for Mac OS X, the desktop
application lets people view, interact with, organize and share their
light field pictures. Lytro pictures can then be uploaded to Lytro.com
to be shared via Facebook, Twitter, blogs, or as links in email
messages. Once shared, Lytro’s living pictures allow viewers to live the
moment with the photographer and explore a scene like never before.
Viewers can continually interact with Lytro pictures – focusing them
over and over – expanding the creative possibilities of each and every
shot.

Concepts related to the light field and computational photography have
been researched in academic circles for more than a century. Light field
science was the subject of Lytro CEO and Founder Dr. Ren Ng’s Ph.D.
dissertation in computer science at Stanford, which was awarded the
internationally-recognized ACM Dissertation Award in 2007 as well as
Stanford University’s Arthur Samuel Award for Best Ph.D. Dissertation.
Dr. Ng’s research focused on miniaturizing light field technology into
the body of a single camera to make it practical for everyday use.

The digital still camera market is large and growing with $38.3 billion
in worldwide revenue in 2010 and expectations to increase to $43.5
billion worldwide by 2015.* Visual storytelling is universal,
with 60 billion photos shared on Facebook in 2010, projected to reach
100 billion photos by this summer.

“Light field photography was once only possible with 100 cameras
tethered to a supercomputer in a lab,” said Ng. “Today it’s accessible
to everyone in a camera that’s small and powerful, but incredibly easy
to use. Our goal is to forever change the way people take and experience
pictures, and today marks our first major step.”

Pricing & Availability

The Lytro camera is available in two models: 8GB ($399, 350 pictures, in
Electric Blue or Graphite) and 16GB ($499, 750 pictures, in Red Hot). It
is now available to order at Lytro.com and will ship in early 2012. The
Lytro desktop application will be available initially for the Mac
operating system; a Windows version will be available in 2012.

Lytro is transforming the camera into a powerful computational
photography platform, forever changing the way everyone takes and
experiences pictures. The first Lytro light field camera offers
photographic capabilities never before possible, such as focusing a
picture after it’s taken, and creates interactive living pictures that
can be endlessly refocused and enjoyed by friends and family online. CEO
Ren Ng, whose Ph.D. research on light field photography won Stanford
University’s prize for best thesis in computer science in 2006 as well
as the internationally recognized ACM Dissertation award, founded the
company in 2006. For additional information, visit Lytro.com.